Job Quality and Poverty in Latin America
Labor market dynamics have played a significant role in the remarkable social gains experienced across Latin America over the recent past. Assessing the quality of employment, beyond the perspective of income, to include other fundamental aspects o...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/484611482350883806/Job-quality-and-poverty-in-Latin-America http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25830 |
| Summary: | Labor market dynamics have played a
significant role in the remarkable social gains experienced
across Latin America over the recent past. Assessing the
quality of employment, beyond the perspective of income, to
include other fundamental aspects of jobs --such as whether
jobs are secure, provide benefits, or allow human capital
accumulation -- can shed light on the sustainability of
these achievements. This is particularly pertinent given the
region's current economic slowdown. Using harmonized
data for 17 countries in Latin America, this paper connects
the role of job quality with the recent process of inclusive
growth across the region, and particularly with how
individuals worked their way out of poverty. The paper first
proposes a multi-dimensional measure for job quality, and
then uses this measure to compare job quality across
countries and over time. The paper also studies some of the
correlates of job quality and the relationship between job
quality and poverty. The main finding is that job quality
across the region began to increase since 2004, coupled with
the favorable terms of trade brought to the region by the
commodities super cycle of the 2000s. The best predictors of
job quality are age, gender, education, formal employment,
and union membership. Both health and retirement benefits
are the dimensions of job quality that are best correlated
with not living in poverty. |
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